What do you think art is? You might think that this is, for example, an expensive and very rare diamond or an architectural monument somewhere in Italy, or maybe France… Thinking this way, you will not be wrong, but this particular way of thinking directs you into something unattainable, sublime, and even too delusive.

If I will state to you that art might be, same as those precious diamonds, a fresh, morning air, or a freshly cut grass, it may be a sunset or a feeling that you belong, sometimes a first love or a cup of coffee (or tea) with a lovely book besides. It is totally different from diamonds, isn’t it? But, somehow you feel better while thinking about it. You may feel the opposite since you may not like coffee or your first love ended up as heartbreak, but, in some strange way, it evokes feeling inside. Different cognition and this is where the art begins.

The Art is in the architectural monuments in Spain, similar to the hug of your parents because both of these make you feel, it is where the art is born.

The painting above is made by the highly admired artist, Johannes Vermeer, who depicts a regular woman, a maid most likely, who pours milk from a jug. She is simple, she is quiet and calm, same as everything around her, but, somehow, the great Vermeer decided to paint her, as if he saw something special in the way she is doing her work, something artistically unusual about her that made him feel.

“Johannes Vermeer, Johannes also rendered Jan, (baptized October 31, 1632, Delft, Netherlands—buried December 16, 1675, Delft), was a Dutch artist who created paintings that are among the most beloved and revered images in the history of art. Although only about 36 of his paintings survive, these rare works are among the greatest treasures in the world’s finest museums. Vermeer began his career in the early 1650s by painting large-scale biblical and mythological scenes, [cityscapes and allegorical scenes], but most of his later paintings—the ones for which he is most famous—depict scenes of daily life in interior settings. These works are remarkable for their purity of light and form, qualities that convey a serene, timeless sense of dignity”, Britannica.

To note my comments about this artist, well, it is pure adoration. He reflected a broad range of emotions and details which he specifically and uniquely saw, then transmitted all of them into the canvas. The ordinary girl which you see above points her gaze at the viewer, she is calm, same as the Milkmade, she is quiet, but has some specific details which evoke different feelings when you are looking at her. There is something special in the way she is forever looking at the observer, and in the way as if she wants something to say… It all looks kind of hazy and at the same time very defined. She penetrates stillness and silence, at the same time colors and joy.

One of the many of his artworks, this one shows us the life of regular people. It is simple too, but because of its simplicity and exceptional imprinting of regular life, it is special. It shows us that looking after the home, cleaning the yard, or darning the cloth may be art because this painting is an art indeed. It shows that to be simple is enough to exist, by that to feel.

The works we saw are all about the routine, about modest, humble, and maybe this is what catches our sight because we can rely on it and totally and deeply understand it. And it is not bad at all, of course, it is just very real and open, and the way Johannes Vermeer created this atmosphere is a true masterliness and ingenuity of an unremarkable artist who is living till now in his works which reflect the eternal.

Sources:

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-milkmaid/9AHrwZ3Av6Zhjg?hl=en-GB

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/girl-with-a-pearl-earring-johannes-vermeer/3QFHLJgXCmQm2Q?hl=en-GB

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-little-street-johannes-vermeer/YAGJRuPz8yVuRQ?hl=en-GB

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Vermeer

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johannes-Vermeer